Chapter 18 of Left to Themselves is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of Left to Themselves is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
EXPLANATIONS; AND MR. JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST. “Well, it’s ended, at any rate. A most astonishing business it certainly has been! And nobody to blame for part of it.”
Chapter 18 of Left to Themselves is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
surprising greatly
From this reading “A most astonishing business it certainly has been!”
put or pin the blame on
From this reading “And nobody to blame for part of it.””
having come or been brought to a conclusion
From this reading ““Well, it’s ended, at any rate.”
plural of “explanation” — a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.
From this reading “EXPLANATIONS; AND MR.”
no person; not anyone
From this reading “And nobody to blame for part of it.””
a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
From this reading ““Well, it’s ended, at any rate.”
express the need or desire for
From this reading “JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.”
third-person singular of “send” — cause to go somewhere
From this reading “JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading ““Well, it’s ended, at any rate.”
In this reading “A most astonishing business it certainly has been!”
In this reading “And nobody to blame for part of it.””
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading EXPLANATIONS; AND MR.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
surprising greatly
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
put or pin the blame on
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
having come or been brought to a conclusion
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
plural of “explanation” — a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.
From this reading EXPLANATIONS; AND MR.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.
used to form the superlative
From this reading A most astonishing business it certainly has been!
a form of address for a man
From this reading EXPLANATIONS; AND MR.
no person; not anyone
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
something determined in relation to something that includes it
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
express the need or desire for
From this reading JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.
third-person singular of “send” — cause to go somewhere
From this reading JENNISON SENDS A REQUEST.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading And nobody to blame for part of it.”
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading “Well, it’s ended, at any rate.
Chapter 18 of Left to Themselves by Edward Prime-Stevenson holds 169 sentences, grouped into 34 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 18 holds 169 sentences of Left to Themselves, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of Left to Themselves by Edward Prime-Stevenson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 169 sentences, grouped into 34 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 18 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Left to Themselves by Edward Prime-Stevenson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4254 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57203 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57203, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 354 minutes of reading across 851 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Left to Themselves section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 20 chapters of Left to Themselves to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Left to Themselves, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
